Its not easy being green

DocBrain is worried about the environment. Not worried, as in not sleeping at night, but worried as in tsk tsking when he sees waste. DocBrain's liberal friends think that the only solution is to tax gasoline so high that only the rich and the government can afford it. DocBrain thinks that a plan to keep oil out of the hands of the poor sounds un-liberal, maybe even conservative.

DocBrain thinks that before we take oil out of the hands of the poor folk, we ought to look at other options: alternative fuels; roads designated for small, efficient cars, motorcycles, mopeds and bicycles; relaxation of controls on public transportation allowing more entrepreneurs to run shuttle services (think: jitneys).

DocBrain thinks that conservatives like to conserve things as well as political systems. So, conservatives can be green. Not the envy shade of green for those who drive big cars, but forest green with the desire to preserve the world's resources.

DocBrain took a photograph of a windmill yesterday in an upscale residential neighborhood. It is old, but still runs and looks cool. I wonder why Ted Kennedy doesn't want some in his neighborhood? Maybe he is worried some endangered species of bird will be caught in its spinning blades. But, I doubt it.

Good Times

http://www.quotegarden.com/optimism.html

DocBrain sees civilization slowly rolling uphill over the centuries; finer and nobler living coming from the inspiration and perspiration of many who have come before and are here now. DocBrain is honored to have many role models in his personal life to follow: relatives, friends and those known only from afar. If DocBrain's world did not include such people... well, lets not go there, as this is a piece about optimism.

At the end of one's days, I imagine it would feel good to have been a contributor to the chain of positive events and progress.

DocBrain thinks that if you are too pessimistic about people and too optimistic about government, you will be a communist and if you are too optimistic about people and too pessimistic about government, you will be a libertarian. For every "shining city on the hill" there will be a tower of Babel. For every Schweitzer there will be a Hitler. So, tempered optimism is DocBrain's motto. Believe in people and in the power of groups to change the world for the better.

DocBrain salutes the good people and the good organizations.

Some good people do not like to be in the spotlight. DocBrain thinks the world needs heroes and heroines, role models for involvement in good deeds. So, if you are one of those people who does good deeds with little recognition, who tries to fly under the radar, DocBrain dedicates this post to you. Thank you for everything and keep up the great work.

Random Access

An interesting internet article!

http://mensnewsdaily.com/blog/parks/2006/01/got-brain.html

It inspired this blog...

The new Democrat paradigm:
1. I am telling you the truth.
2. Oops, you caught me lying.
3. Really, it didn't take you too much effort to catch me, did it?
4. That is because I wanted you to catch the lie because me telling the lie was sort of an inside joke between you and me against the Republicans.
5. So, it really isn't a lie like the way Republicans lie; it is actually a kind of truth between us.

The Black Democrat paradigm:
1. Whatever bad happens in my life, it is because of my skin color. If someone doesn't like me, it is because of my skin color. If a policeman arrests me, it is because of my skin color. If I do not get a job or a promotion, it is because of my skin color. If I do not do well in school, it is because of my skin color (teacher prejudice, school district giving me bad teachers, poor lunch programs). If I am a victim of a crime, it is because of my skin color (not enough police in my area because they don't care about people with my skin color). I truly see things in black and white. Every white person lords their whiteness over me; they think they are so superior!
2. I want retribution from The Man, because of my skin color.
3. The Democrats give me money through taxation of the rich (whites and those few blacks who kiss white ass), and other gimmes such as affirmative action legislation and a free pass when I have children out of wedlock.
4. I am a Democrat.

The Black Republican paradigm:
1. Skin color really is not such a big thing for most people. Get over it.
2. You will make it in the world if you like people regardless of their skin color, judging only on the content of their character; if you continuously apply yourself to learning and doing; and if you become a contributing member of your community and family.
3. In the past, on the cotton plantation when you worked for The Man, at least you could look yourself in the eye and say "I did this work." On the welfare plantation, The Man doesn't even want or need your work; just sit there and stay out of the way. Maybe, just keep yourself busy having kids, doing drugs and dope. Even though the money is free, it is not a good place to be. You really are needed and wanted on the team, but you must be a team player.
4. It is better to give charity than to take it.
5. Rome wasn't built in a day, but if they never started building, it would never have been built at all. Start moving on up.

Your choice of employment has been scaled back by one

Yes, that does mean that you have been fired.

Apparently, as long as what you are doing is in some way legal, even if it is not ethical, it is incorrect of anyone to say something negative about you.

DocBrain recently heard of a dedicated public servant with over 10 years of dedicated service to the poor, who, upon having to deal with a very young, single woman drug addict on welfare with 4 small children each from a different father, wrote some negative comment about her copulatory proclivity in a legal document. Of course, he was immediately fired.

Since she was doing nothing illegal, he was clearly in the wrong for commenting upon the lifestyle she has chosen. Scientific study has shown that her choice of lifestyle will lead her children to a lower probability of purposeful lives, but protection of the innocent is still not a good enough reason to comment upon a person's legal choices, according to the public servant's employer.

Political correctness was originally intended as a way to empower people to make a better life, as words color each of our understanding of ourselves and our opportunities. So, calling someone a moron (see below) interferes with our understanding of that person, with their perception of themselves, and with their attempt to better themselves, as we will deal with them as morons and they will see themselves as morons. But, does that mean we should not have values? Does that mean we should not apply values? Does that mean that all prioritization of values are of equal merit? And, does it only work one way, from the powerful/majority towards the disadvantaged/minority? Can words hurt the powerful or the majority?

DocBrain thinks that a hand works best when connected to a wrist. DocBrain is not opposed to philosophically considering the advantages and disadvantages of connecting a hand to the ankle, but would want serious research before recommending this for general use. I guess this makes DocBrain a conservative or even a reactionary in modern America.

DocBrain sees no value in placing equal value on all lifestyles, especially those which have been clearly demonstrated to produce significantly greater probability of harm to future generations. A life of undereducation, underemployment, crime and addiction is not a good thing, and any mother who fosters and abets this in her children is not a good mother. And telling her so, directly or indirectly, is not a bad thing.

DocBrain thinks that using values based upon superstition or other illogical considerations is wrong headed, but that using knowledge to create and apply a reality based value system can help all of us to have better lives. And, just because something is legal doesn't make it ethically valuable.

The President is so stupid...

How stupid is he?

That is how the joke goes. So, DocBrain decided not to be funny, but to use mathematics to find out exactly how stupid our president is and to compare him to other presidents. But, first DocBrain needed a point of reference. So, he chose a moron. Morons are well known to be stupid. DocBrain googled "stupid" + "moron" and got 4,540,000 hits. That is a lot of people believing that morons are stupid. But, how does that compare with, for example, googling "George W. Bush" + "stupid"? DocBrain did the heavy lifting and here are the google statistics for our presidents as compared to the hits for a stupid moron.

President .............. is ..........times as stupid as a moron
George W. Bush.......... 3.96
William J. Clinton .......2.08
JFK.............................. 1.31
R. Reagan................... 0.54
J. Carter..................... 0.49
R. M. Nixon............... 0.39
DD Eisenhower......... 0.18
FDR............................ 0.16
HST............................ 0.14
GHW Bush................. 0.11
Gerald Ford.............. 0.10
LBJ............................ 0.10

Albert Einstein........ 0.30 (for an intelligent reference)

So, according to the internet, Gerald Ford and LBJ are the smartest presidents in recent history and are smarter than Albert Einstein. Richard Nixon is smarter than a moron, but JFK is not. And Clinton is the second most stupid president in recent history. Actually, only three presidents are dumber than a moron and two of them are Democrats. The average Democrat president has a 0.71 score as opposed to the average Republican of 0.88. Signs of superior intelligence appear to be lifting up your dogs by their ears and easily tripping and falling. 50% of our last 12 presidents were smarter than Albert Einstein.

DocBrain leaves analysis of these statistics up to the reader.

Which came first?

Usually, this question refers to the chicken or the egg, but this time of year, it refers to the bunny and the egg.

DocBrain's research seems to indicate that the egg came first. Eggs had long been a symbol of fertility. As animal derived, they were not allowed during Lent, and so when collected during Lent were boiled. They were eaten at Easter, a prized delicacy. Eggs are often eaten as part of the Passover meal as well.

Eggs were hidden for children to find on Easter. In Germany, a tradition developed of telling children of a magical Easter hare that laid Easter eggs that they would have to search to find. This tradition was imported to the USA.

So, the egg came first. DocBrain still does not know about the chicken.

Welfare in America Part 1

It is tax time and DocBrain, like many other tax payers, has been thinking about welfare. DocBrain is a compassionate person but also one who doesn't like being duped. So, DocBrain did a little research on welfare.

Welfare is loosely based on the concept of charity for the poor. While classic charity is voluntary, state run welfare programs take specified amounts of money from working individuals and give it to nonworking individuals of employable age. The nonworking individual must meet certain criteria. Poverty is classically defined as inability to be self reliant, or the inability to support a level of consumption in excess of basic needs.

The intent of welfare is to support those who are not self reliant at a level slightly above basic needs through mandatory taxation of those who are self reliant.

As usual, the devil is in the details. “Inability to be self reliant” includes indisputable groups such as the mentally handicapped, the physically handicapped, and the psychologically impaired. It also includes the less universally accepted groups of the under-educated, the lazy, the addicts, the alcoholics, and those who have the belief that work would expose them to derision or harassment.

DocBrain believes that “Arbeit macht menschenwurde”, or work makes dignity. People do and should feel good about themselves according to their accomplishments. DocBrain believes that any society that does not accept that work makes dignity as a basic concept is doomed to failure. We can feel good about ourselves by providing some level of positive existence for those who cannot work.

DocBrain does not believe that it is the job of the working person to support the lifestyles of alcoholics, addicts, the lazy, the under-educated, and those who see education or work as a source of derision or harassment. DocBrain believes that the true victims of welfare are not just the taxpayers, but more importantly are the children raised by the welfare recieving alcoholics, addicts, lazy, under-educated and those who see work or education as a source of derision or harassment.

The end of Part 1

Intent vs Effect

Does effect = intent?

Some examples:
1. DocBrain is opposed to illegal immigration, as immigration should be lawful. Most illegal immigrants are Hispanic. Therefore, DocBrain is biased against Hispanics.
2. DocBrain believes that security guards in government offices in DC should have the right to stop and question any visitors they do not know. Security guards stopped an african-american woman who did not want to be stopped. Therefore, DocBrain is a racist.
3. DocBrain believes in reform of the welfare system. Most people with IQs of <60 are on welfare. Most people with schizophrenia are unemployed. Therefore, DocBrain is biased against the mentally handicapped and the mentally ill.
4. DocBrain is opposed to racially motivated college acceptance programs as he believes in a racially blind system where people are judged by their abilities and the content of their character. Most who benefit from these programs are african-american. Therefore, DocBrain is a racist.

If you listen to politics today, do you get the impression that effect = intent? That evil or dumb intents are placed upon those responsible for actions and policies that produced less-than-optimal effects?

Here is an example, if you don't get it: We fought in Iraq. Some of the post-war civilian contracting went to Haliburton. Therefore, the intent of Bush/Cheney was to find more work for Haliburton.

DocBrain does think that attributing intent to others is one good way to increase misunderstanding and hate in the world. This mental exercise is one of assumptions, and we all know that to assume is to make an ass out of u and me.

A Better Day

How many times have you been unable to do everything you wanted to do. How often have you said "I wish I had more time" or "I wish there were more hours in the day".

Well, DocBrain has solved that problem.

DocBrain proposes changing each day from 24 hours to 30 hours, and each hour from 60 minutes to 48 minutes. Silly, you say? Well, read on!

Here are some obvious benefits:
1. Your time immediately becomes more valuable. If you are paid an hourly wage, your actual earnings/minute will go up.
2. A jump start to the world economy as everyone will need new watches and clocks.
3. Everyone can now sleep 8 hours and still have 22 active hours.
4. You can travel further in your car. Now, at 65 mph it would take you almost 5 hours to travel 300 miles, but under my plan you could travel that distance in around 220 minutes (thats around 3.5 hours under the old system).
5. TV shows would not have to change, since most hour shows have almost 20 minutes of commercials, so you would actually sit through less commercials.
6. If you slept 8 hours a day, worked 8 hours a day, and did other chores 8 hours a day, you would still have 6 hours for yourself to exercise, read, watch TV, volunteer, etc.
7. Most psychiatrists/psychologists charge by the hour, but only see you for 50 minutes, clearly not fair in DocBrain's opinion. Under my system, the therapist could see you for one full hour and then, because you are so interesting and important , could see you for an additional 2 minutes at no additional cost to you. You would feel better for it, as you would feel more special.

DocBrain could go on, but he is running out of time as he has a busy day. If there were only more time...

Spring Ahead!!

Everyone likes spring, even DocBrain.

But DocBrain does not like springing his clock ahead. No Way!!! DocBrain believes in early to bed and early to rise, but when he springs ahead, he wakes up later, even when he wakes up early. This means that DocBrain has to wake up even earlier to wake up early. And when DocBrain goes to bed later, he will wake up later, even if, on DST, he would still be waking up early. Go figure!!

P.S. If DocBrain lost you, it is because you are sleep deprived from trying to deal with springing ahead, losing sleep, and fighting against spring fever.

PoliticoMania

Tonight is WrestleMania, the premier annual event in professional wrestling. This is where the good guys (faces) and the bad guys (heels) get it on for the enjoyment of the millions of fans and wrestling true believers (marks).

What makes prowrestling so popular? It is the posturing and trash talking; the cartoonish nature of the faces and heels; the over-the-top solliloquies and dialogues that create in the fans anger and frustration (heat) or happiness and excitement (pops).

To paraphrase George Carlin, think about the average American...now remember that half of Americans are dumber and more gullible!

Some of our representatives in government have taken this to heart and are catering to the political marks, those people who believe in the cartoonish nature of politicians. These political posers are making their political opponents into heels and themselves into faces.

If you believe that George Bush is evil, that Haliburton is behind the Iraq war, that the republicans want to take away social security, that republicans are racist, and all the other trash talk that is dished out mainly by the democrats, then you are a political mark. The very politicians who you believe in are laughing at you for your simple gullibility.

PoliticoMania is election day. It is when you, the voter, can choose to make a decision based upon vision, purpose and actual plans for solving the problems that face us in the future, or can be led by the heat and pops that politicians dish out.

DocBrain is saddened by the gullibility of apparently intelligent people who mark out to the political heat and pops. It may be a good way to run prowrestling but not a country.

I do find it most interesting that young people are the most vocal about "Bush lied" type of heat and also make up the largest pro-wrestling demographic. Coincidence? I think not!

But if you would rather be led by heat and pops, here you go, just in time for Wrestlemania:

Republicans, read here:
Watcha goin' do, brotha, when the President of the US runs wild on you!

Democrats, read here:
To my millions (and millions) of fans, I am going to drop the people's elbow on the President and he will be counted out of office, 1---2---3. If you smell what we dems are cooking.

Honey, what you see is what you get!

An unidentified woman enters a House of Representatives office building in Washington, DC. The officer on duty tells her to stop for a security check, but she keeps right on walking. When, after three attempts to get her to stop he finally grabs her, she hits him. He applies a little more restraint to her and...guess what? He is a racist! And Harry Belafonte and Danny Glover apparently agree!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12096621/

I hope that, in this case, it is all about the publicity, being outrageous, and playing to her fans. I hope that she really believes that racism wasn't the reason for her being touched by the officer.

Negative biases blind you to reality by creating an alternative universe centered on distrust and hate. This is a bad place to be.